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An Ode To An iPod.

James Geeo: i can't believe how tough ipods areL: yeah tell me about itL: i have dropped kicked mine many times ruinningL: runninJames Geeo: i think i did one better today.James Geeo: like.James Geeo: ipod in my front shirt pocket.James Geeo: the button up i was wearing over this oneJames Geeo: going down the road at 100 mphJames Geeo: it left the pocket, banged against the side of my bike like 10 times, finally landing ont he back seat from the force of wind.James Geeo: not only did the cord not disconnect...James Geeo: (from a jerk at 100 mph)James Geeo: but banging against the side of a motorocycle...James Geeo: only a small scuff on a corner.James Geeo: that's itJames Geeo: AND it kept playing while flying through the air and banging aroundJames Geeo: amazingL: lolJames Geeo: i mean, really. that's tough construction.James Geeo: and the cord didn't disconnect! it went tight, and it just stayed connected!

When I looked at mp3 players prior to purchasing my iPod, i considered a lot of things, and most of the things I looked at were oriented around aesthetic appeal and ease of use; literally nothing else mattered. So often in life, we're punished for choosing beauty over brawn, looks over substance. In this case, however, well, that's not what's gone down.

Not only does my iPod do everything I want and more than I would ever want (video, games, blah blah), performing every function flawlessly, but it always exceeds my expectations. The above being case in point. The other mp3 players I looked at, with their cheap plastic casings and poorly designed headphone jacks would have most certainly been destroyed on that outing. Had I bought something else, I most certainly wouldn't still have the product now. The cord would have slipped out of it's input port and the device would have his the ground exiting my person at 100 mph and probably would have shattered into a million pieces.

A lot of people tell me that the iPod has a premium price, and that it's limiting as far as the file formats it plays, and all this and that. I can only respond with the same simple answer i always do: It's easy to use as far as the hardware and software that it comes with, it's 100% intuitive (the device can be used blind, never looking at the screen after a short time), has more space than I'll use, looks amazing and is rock solid as far as it's build and quality. I have NEVER had a problem with the iPod I currently have or the previous (older generation) Nano that I had.

There are horror stories about every product on earth, but the iPod has few in comparison to those products in the same genre of hardware (like the Zune, etc) and I get that people talk a lot of shit about anything that anyone likes; I get that, it's fine, I understand. I find it annoying when people talk shit about things I like (or in this case, love) but haters are out there and always will be. I live with the reality (and irony) that probably 90% of the people that talk shit about the iPod have never actually owned one or used one for an extended amount of time, and the mp3 players they have they don't end up using for, well, whatever reason they would choose say. The other side to the coin of course, and this is solely based in my own opinion, is that the ones with mp3 players other than the iPod and actually use them have players that are non-intuitive, too big, and are altogether unsightly. It's as though they went out, just to be different, and bought the antithesis of the iPod: the most ugly, bulky gross thing on the planet, just to be different. I see their player, and it groans like an ogre and looks like the millennium falcon on it's last leg, mean while, my iPod is saying to itself "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful," and taking bullets like a Super hero. I don't understand how anyone could hate on an iPod, but my track record with them speaks for itself and because of it, what they say rolls off with a laugh.

As I got off my bike when I got back to work, 50 Cent seemed to echo my iPod's own sentiment post road-carnage: "I been hit with a few slugs but I don't walk with a limb (I'm aight)!"

This entry won't change anyone's mind, either, I know. That doesn't even matter. If you're planning on buying an mp3 player, though, I'd recommend an iPod hands down, especially the current Nano.

(This journal entry is specifically about the iPod Nano's current edition, incidentally)

I'm probably going to upgrade to the Product Red 8GB version soon. Damn I love this thing.

Comments {2}

(no subject)

I aint hatin'. Sometimes it takes an Apple product. Sometimes, you need a three hundred pound gorilla. Personally, in the mp3 category, I opt for the gorilla. But then, I main use mine in the car or on a bike, covering many possible attitudes. I might *need* 30 gigs worth of music, just to have the right sound track. You might not. Any man who finds the right tool for the job, has a right to be proud that they've found that tool. I personally wouldn't own an iPod - it simply doesn't suit my needs. You wouldn't own my mp3 player - it doesn't suit yours. Would it have survived on your bike today? Well, it's tough, but I would say it depends on whether or not the cord pulled out. It certainly wouldn't have made it to the seat behind you, even at your speeds, it's simply too heavy.

James. You're happy with an Apple product. And I have to give you props. You didn't get a zune....

(no subject)

I only know one person that DID get a Zune, Drew. Their name started with a B.

I made fun of them for their Zune purchase. I still am making fun of them for it.

Joel also bought a non-iPod player, called a Sanza or something. I don't think I've seen him use it but once since he got it.

It looked very awkward. Which is my gripe with most mp3 players. They just feel, uh, awkward to me.

Being me, and not being a Mac fan boy, it's hard for me to actually like a an Apple product. The iPod took a lot of warming-up-to for me to get over my skeptical nature. I'm the guy that sits back and calls it like i see it with Mac; they're overpriced and over hyped and not even worth 1/4th the reputation for stability they get. I don't buy the "It just works" thing people say about them, because I saw G5s at Copies N a Flash in Clarksville crash all day long doing the most simple of edits in Photoshop 7 while a nasty-cheap Athlon XP machine with a gig of memory out paced the Macs and never crashed, whether it was in Photoshop or Quark. It happened frequently on all the Macs in that office, and they were all the top dollar Apple-Tricked-Out jobs direct from factory out of the box.

I know it's a different world now, with Macs, but it isn't all roses. The iPod, and all their other products, had a stigma to them upfront. I've been REALLY satisfied with both the iPods I have owned; but the iPod, as far as I can tell, is a lone soldier in the Mac army: it's a good deal price wise, and it's actually a better product than anything that's out in the wild competing for it's market share. The iPhone, I think, could be another exception; I'll never know, though, because I won't pay the premium for it to find out.